WHAT IS A SELF CONSUMPTION COMMUNITY

SOLAR ENERGY SHARED BY YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBOURS

Younergy was founded to facilitate the access to solar power to apartment buildings and communities across Switzerland. Thanks to a major change in the Swiss energy law you can produce and consume your own electricity together with your fellow residents. Such a community is called a “self-consumption community”. Know more below.

FAQ ON SELF-CONSUMPTION COMMUNITIES

HOW DOES A SELF-CONSUMPTION COMMUNITY WORK?

The basis of a self-consumption community is a shared solar power system. The members of the community consume together the produced solar electricity from their own roof. When the solar system happens not to produce enough (e.g. at night), the necessary electricity can be bought from the grid. Similarly, the community can also inject the surplus electricity to the grid (e.g. during summer days) and get some remuneration.

DO I NEED TO BE A HOUSE OWNER IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE?

No. Everyone, including tenants, can participate. The only condition is that you are an electricity consumer.

HOW DO I CREATE A SELF-CONSUMPTION COMMUNITY?

We at Younergy help you with the whole process of creating and managing your self-consumption community. Ideally, you would present the idea of creating such a community to your neighbours. Then you contact us and we will take care of all paperwork and administrative details, from start to finish.

HOW DOES BILLING WORK?

After switching to a Younergy Solar-Abo with your community, you will not receive an electricity bill from the local utility company anymore. Instead, you will only receive a normal electricity bill from us each quarter.

WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE FORMER UTILITY?

You will not need to deal with them anymore. We take care of all electricity flows in and out of your apartment. By making an agreement with your former utility we help assuring your electricity supply also during the night and rainy days.

CAN SUCH COMMUNITY BE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT?

Not yet unfortunately. By installing a solar system, you can achieve all-year self-consumption rates of up to 80 %. You want to get even more independent? Then a battery for electricity storage is an effective solution for your community. Ask our team for a battery option.

WHAT IS SELF-CONSUMPTION?

Self-consumption is the direct consumption of the solar energy produced by your solar PV system. This percentage-point metric is important as the higher the rate of self-consumption, the greater your savings will be compared with grid electricity. There are many appliances, electric devices and vehicles that can be programed to run at times of peak solar production when you may not be home.

TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR RATE OF SELF-CONSUMPTION

Program appliances such as your dishwasher and washing machine
Reprogram water and/or electric space heating
Modify your Electric Vehicle (EV) charge time
Mow the lawn, vacuum or collect leaves using electric appliances that are cleaner and more cost effective to run and maintain
Install a battery in order to store solar energy and use it when needed